Gumshoe
by Fareway19
Summary: A mysterious virus is striking the youth of Berk; all except for Hiccup that is. With the children's lives on the line Stoick, Gobber and the other adults desperately search to find the cure and cause. Despite the nagging restriction and risk of infection, Hiccup works to help his friends-no matter the cost.
1. Chapter 1

**Next story of mine, takes place after the finale as I've said before. This story was supposed to be a humorous one, but a new idea came to me and I think it's better; still the same concept just different events. Enjoy!**

**PLEASE READ: This takes place approximately 16 days after the events of my last story ****_Nameless Foray_****. This is not a sequel, but just the next 'episode'.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

The sun rose above the horizon, shadows sheltered themselves behind trees and rocks, outlining their figure. Though there wasn't any windows in the house, its residents knew what time it was and begun to wake. Stoick placed some wood on the fire, poking it with a metal rod to spread the cinders still burning. When done, he grabbed his wooden duck off a shelf along with a carving knife and continued to work on his project.

Upstairs lay Hiccup in his bed. Toothless was snoring on his rock slab, curled up like a kitten. A yawn escaped Hiccup's mouth as he rose up from beneath his covers and rubbed his eyes. Twisting his body, he placed both feet/prosthetic on the ground and stood up. Walking over to Toothless, he lightly tapped his shoulders before petting him, one hand under the chin while the other stroked his head.

"Come on, bud; time to wake up." He said. Toothless yawned and cooed from the warm motion. He lifted himself off of his "bed" and shook away all drowsiness. The two ventured downstairs where they met Stoick sitting in his chair carving away at his duck.

_It's always soothing for him._ Hiccup thought.

"Hey dad," He said as he reached the bottom and sat in his chair.

"Morning son," Stoick said, lifting his eyes up from the duck to look at his son before drifting them back down. Hiccup snatched his plate that was in the center of the table and moved it closer to him. Taking ahold of his fork he began to eat; Toothless sat beside him, staring at him eating.

Still focused on his project in his hands, "There hasn't been any delivery of fish for Toothless yet, so you might have to go out and get him some." Stoick looked up at Toothless and chuckled, "He looks hungry; you should probably feed him before he starts snacking on something else."

Hiccup lifted his gaze off of the plate to his dragon; Toothless was watching him eat with a strong desire to have something himself.

"Oh, sorry bud;" Hiccup said, finishing his meal and running out the door with Toothless in tow. Outside, he jumped onto said dragon's back, clicked in his prosthetic and the two soared into the sky. They began to descend towards the sea when they passed the cliff side, the waves reaching up the rock walls to meet them. Toothless soared over the sea; turning right, the wind took him over to the islands that dotted the sea all around Berk. Diving down, the two flew beneath an arc, and veered right again. They swooped down towards a low raised isle, landing on its sandy beach. Hiccup leaped off of Toothless and walked up to the tree line only a few yards away.

"Okay, Toothless; I really don't have a basket to put your fish in so you're just gonna hav'ta eat breakfast here." Hiccup turned around and saw that Toothless was way ahead of him as his whole head was under water scavenging for fish. Hiccup smiled and shook his head turning back around to adventure through the small forest. Passing a field of flowers, maneuvering around falling tree trunks, it wasn't until he came to the edge of the small island that he saw the main land—Berk. For such a low view, it was actually nice; a perfect snap shot of Berk's good side, so to speak.

Hiccup furrowed his eyebrows, lifting a hand to shield his eyes from the sun and better see afar. In the distance, right on the side of a cliff was a giant tree, its limbs hanging down along the cliff's rock wall. But that wasn't what caught Hiccup's eye; on the tree was someone familiar. If his vision for such a distance was correct, then he'd say that figure was Snotlout.

"Snotlout? What is he doing?" A roar from behind him alerted Toothless' presence; obviously done with his fish buffet.

"Come on Toothless, we need to figure out what Snotlout is up to." Hiccup jumped onto the saddle and clicked in his prosthetic. "Thor knows it's nothing good." He muttered before they took off into the sky.

* * *

Snotlout hummed to himself as he lifted his right foot and brought it down onto another tree limb, balancing himself there while he pretended to professionally analyze the area for unknown purposes.

Hiccup and Toothless dropped down behind the tree, Hiccup jumping off of him and calmly walking around and over to Snotlout who was unaware of their recent presence. With Toothless following him, the two found their so called friend murmuring to himself and holding his fingers in the shape of a picture frame while moving around and observing the tree.

"Snotlout, what are you doing?" Hiccup asked. Snotlout cried out from surprise and fell off of the tree and onto the ground. He lifted his head up and sneered at Hiccup.

"Top secret; need to know only." He hissed back before getting up and brushing himself off.

"Uh, you're scouting out a tree." Hiccup replied, informing him of the absurdity of this so called 'top secret' project.

"It's none of your business, Hiccup. Go back to flying around with Toothless." He shooed him, but Hiccup only rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

A roar from the skies brought their attention to the arrival of their friends, Astrid, Fishlegs and the twins; and their respected dragons.

"Hiccup," Astrid said as she and the others jumped off of their dragons. "Good, you're here; I was just going to go find you to tell you something."

"Hey, this is a secret matter!" Snotlout complained.

"Snotlout, Hiccup is our leader; he has all rights to know everything that goes on in our group." Astrid sassed back with her hands on her hips.

"Oh really, okay, last night I ate some chicken with soup and I had the strangest dream that I was riding a fly whale." Tuffnut commented.

Everyone just looked at him with expressions of confusion and a sense of random strangeness.

"Wait, we didn't have chicken and soup last night." Ruffnut added.

"We didn't?"

"No, that was the night before."

"Oh,"

"Back to the matter at hand…" Astrid said bring the topic back to what it was before.

"So what are you guys doing with this tree?" Hiccup asked.

"We're making a tree house; a place so where can discuss important topics privately." Astrid informed him.

"Probably the majority of it being about dragons." Fishlegs added. "With all of the stuff that's been happening due to your knowledge of training dragons, we figured it'd be a lot safer to discuss such matters in private."

"No one besides us knows about this place." Astrid added as well.

"Yeah, and no one ever will, so keep your mouth shut around your dad." Snotlout retorted, pointing his finger at Hiccup.

"Why does this have to be a secret to my father?" Hiccup asked.

"It doesn't, you can inform Stoick and Gobber they're trustworthy." Astrid said with her arms folded and eyes staring daggers at Snotlout.

"Well I think this is a great idea. Establishing waypoints on Berk could really give us an advantage should anything happen." Hiccup said, "What do we need?"

"Planks, but we already have that covered." Astrid said. "What we really need is some tools; you could fetch us some from Gobber's forge."

"I'll go get 'em." Hiccup replied as he hopped back onto Toothless.

"And we can go get the planks awhile." Fishlegs said, he and the twins hopping onto their dragons.

"Remember to keep it secret!" Snotlout shouted at them as they began to ascend into the air.

"Shut up Snotlout!" Astrid yelled at him, she was staying behind to help Snotlout; they all knew he needed it.

* * *

**Well, everything is all nice and peaceful… for now. Just wait for the up coming chapters!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I fixed a few grammar mistakes in the last chapter; I'll have to teach myself to go over the chapters another time before posting—the fewer mistakes, the better.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

Toothless touched down in front of the forge; Hiccup jumped off and calmly walked in. As he began to approach the table layer with supplies, he began to think of what he needed.

"Hmm, let's see here…" He observed the equipment before going over into the other room to fetch his satchel.

Coming back out, "Alright, we'll need some nails, a hammer, a saw, and some rope." He said while dumping each item into his satchel, the rope being slung over his shoulder. "I think that's it; we might have to come back for some more hammers and nails, but that's all for now." He said looking at Toothless. "Come on, bud, let's head back." With a wave of his hand the two started to leave the forge, running into Gobber on the way out.

"Hey, Hiccup; don't mind me, I just gotta clean this Gronkle's teeth." Gobber said while leading said Gronkle to the forge. "Ate too many rocks at one time, haha." Gobber added pointing to the dragon. Hiccup smiled, but proceeded to leave with Toothless.

Gobber noticed the rope around his former apprentice's shoulder and furrowed his eyebrows.

"What's the rope for? Gonna tie up Snotlout with it?" Gobber chuckled.

Hiccup turned around, "Hmm, tempting, but no; it's for something else—a tree house."

"Ah, you're making a tree house." Gobber shrugged his shoulders, "Well, have fun."

Hiccup hopped back onto his Night Fury and flew off towards the location of their new way point.

"Keep it a secret, what for?" Hiccup said to himself.

* * *

Three more hits of the hammer and Stoick was parched. He, along with a lot of the other adults, were hammering away to fix up the damages done by the Berserkers. He'd been working since morning and hasn't taken a break. It might have been cold out, but that didn't mean you couldn't sweat from overwork.

"Stoick, why don't you take a break, you look like your sick up there." Gobber said standing beside the ladder that Stoick was on. Looking up he saw his friend sigh, but smile and comply to come down.

"How long have you been working for?" Gobber asked as the two made their way through the village construction.

"Eh, I can't keep count." Stoick replied.

"Ah, and that's an indication for you that it's been too long." Gobber inquired as he pointed at Stoick with his prosthetic hook.

"Bah," Stoick tried to wave away the fact.

"Uh huh," Gobber said, rubbing it in.

Trying to change the subject, "We need more hammers; we can get this done in less than two days if we have hammers for more workers." Stoick said.

"Oh, the children have a couple of those… and nails, and rope;" Gobber informed him.

"Hiccup and his friends? Why do they have hammers?" Stoick asked stopping and looking back at his friend.

_I can't have anything to do with dragon training… can it?_ He questioned in his mind.

"They're making a tree house or something like that." Gobber replied before continuing, "Look, Stoick, we only have a couple more houses to finish, we can easily get that done today and tomorrow." Stoick sighed, but knew Gobber was right.

"Alright Gobber, I'll head on over to the Great Hall." He said, leaving his friend's side. He stopped to turn around again, "But these houses will be done in less than two days."

Gobber smiled and shook his head, "That Stoick always wants what's best for the tribe." he whispered to himself.

* * *

The twins were sitting on one of the tree's large roots tying knots into the rope. Above them were Astrid and Snotlout laying out the floor board for the house and hammering in the nails. Hiccup was working on the blueprints for the stairs with Fishlegs, the two contemplating on where or not to make it old fashion or something unique.

"We should go with unique…" Hiccup decided.

"Like instead of having to climb up the tree, we could just have steps. It's a pretty low tree anyway." Fishlegs observed.

"Perfect, we'll need more wood planks though." Hiccup added.

"We also need to wait for them to finish the foundation before starting on the stairs." Fishlegs also added.

"It's almost done; how wide did you want it?" Astrid asked, standing up from crouching and wiping away some sweat from her forehead. Snotlout was still hammering beside her, bent down and focused on the wood.

"Four more boards should be good." Hiccup replied. "Are you sure you guys don't need any more assistance?" He asked thoughtfully, approaching them a few steps. They looked as tired as anything.

"No we're good." Astrid replied

"Yeah, I don't need help from a scrawny Viking like you." Snotlout snapped back while looking up at Hiccup. Astrid narrowed her eyes and swung her hammer backwards, successfully hitting Snotlout on the head; the hammer and helmet making a metal clank as they collided.

"Ouch!" Snotlout hollered.

Fishlegs walked up to Hiccup and stood beside him, "Hmmm, what should we call this place?"

"What was that word Hiccup called it?" Ruffnut asked.

"Something point," Tuffnut commented.

"…Way point?" Hiccup asked, answering their question.

"Yeah, way point, that's what we should call it." Tuffnut suggested, his sister agreeing with a nod and smile.

"No, something…" Hiccup paused in thought before a light bulb struck and both he and Fishlegs looked at each other with smiles.

"Westpoint!" the two said in unison.

"Westpoint sounds good." Astrid agreed heartly.

"Westpoint it is then." Fishlegs concluded. Astrid took a glance at Snotlout.

"No objections, Snotlout?" she asked, waiting for him to open his mouth so she could hammer his head again.

"Fine, we'll name it Westpoint." He mumbled. She smiled to his obedience.

Hiccup saw this and inwardly giggled, his gaze never leaving Astrid as she went back to helping out Snotlout with the floor board. A grin was visibly present on his face. His gaze, however, drifted away from his best friend and down to the twins tying knots in the rope.

"Why are you guys tying knots in the rope?" he asked, surprised at himself for not seeing it earlier.

"We were going to the porch and use it to swing off the cliff and into the sea!" Ruffnut replied with excitement.

"Yeah, it's going to be awesome!" Tuffnut added with equal thrill.

"Ooh, we're going to have a porch?" Fishlegs asked with anticipation.

"We are now." Hiccup countered, giving in. Though, he liked the idea as well; the porch would allow a perfect landing platform for the dragons. Another thing popped into his mind.

"We should make the roof very sturdy; the dragons would want to lay on it."

"Why don't we make some of those posts like last time?" Snotlout suggested.

"_The posts like last time_ attracted lightning and the village almost banished Toothless because of it." Hiccup replied, pointing to his dragon beside him.

"Well, we could make the posts out of wood this time, instead of metal." Astrid proposed.

"That's a good idea Astrid." Hiccup responded.

"That's a lot more wood though." Fishlegs interjected.

"Oh, that's right. I don't know if my Dad will need some more for the houses."

"Go ask him." Astrid replied.

"Well, okay." Hiccup climbed up onto Toothless and the two flew over and down the cliff, pulling up right before hitting the ocean's waves.

The twins watched with awe as Hiccup always pulled off the amazing stunts. Ruffnut looked over at their Zippleback.

"Why can't we do that with you guys?" she asked, irritated.

* * *

**To be continued...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the wait, my area has been getting hit by these thunderstorms and I don't like to be on the computer long in case of a power out. And with the internet constantly going down, it's been hard for me to get onto .**

**Off last subject, but I'm probably going to be working on this story when I begin college in about two weeks. Just bare with me, I don't have a laptop yet and will more than likely have to use their library for working on chapters and updating them. Until I get enough money for a laptop, updates might be long waiting. Not entirely sure yet, but just a heads up.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

The houses looked a lot better than what they were before. Roofs were completely disintegrated, doors no more holding onto their place, the empty shacks holding nothing but their own defeat. And it was all because of Dagur and his army, but some of that blame was towards Hiccup as well. Not that anyone actually blamed him; thought of it as well, Hiccup mostly blamed himself. He knew that he should have told them sooner; put aside his petty feelings for the safety of his home. But he also knew that you can't go through life without tripping over a bump or running into a wall. Hiccup was going to make sure that he'd learn from his mistakes as making the same error twice was only going to pull you backwards.

Pulling away from his thoughts, Hiccup guided Toothless down by the Great Hall and hopped off once they landed. His father was more than likely helping the others with the rebuilding, but having a slight sense he'd been working since he woke, and from past times Gobber more than likely persuaded him to take a break, Hiccup headed to the Great Hall. His guess was correct as he walked in seeing his father, allowing the doors behind him to close on their own. He was conversing with his brother Spitelout…that man was as abhorrent as Snotlout, but then again, that's where Snotlout got it from.

"Dad…?" Hiccup asked as he approached his father.

"Ah, Hiccup, there you are. I've been looking for you; I need you to do something." Stoick interrupted.

"Do what?" Hiccup asked.

"Bucket accidently drop his hammer in between two rocks. I don't know how he did it, but none of us can reach it, our arms… well they're…uh…" Stoick drifted off. Hiccup sighed with a smile.

_So there are perks for being small and thin._ He thought.

"I'll go get it." Hiccup agreed to the task.

* * *

"I don't know how I did it; it just slipped out of my hand." Bucket said, worried.

"Don't worry about it Bucket, it's not the end of the world." Mulch tried to calm him down.

The group was by a large boulder wedged comfortably against another, their shapes creating small crevasses where they touch; gaps just big enough for Hiccup's frame to fit.

"Did you find it Hiccup?" Stoick asked poking his head through the crack.

"No…" Hiccup's voice echoed out.

"Can you see?" Stoick asked again.

"Not really."

"Bucket, where exactly did you drop the hammer at?" Mulch asked his friend.

Bucket scratched his head, "I don't remember…" Mulch sighed and shook his head.

Hiccup searched the dim lighting for a wooden handle, feeling around the ground with one hand while the other held a position against the rock. Though he was small, the fissure was almost right up against him, his frame barely being able to move freely. His eyes glowed with success as he felt his hands brush up against something solid and made of wood.

"Yes, got it!" he said as he reached forward and picked up the hammer. Suddenly, a flame emerged from on top of the hammer's handle and a hiss echoed towards Hiccup. Hiccup gasped, but was too late as the uninvited guest snapped at his finger and drew blood. Hiccup screamed out in pain as he retracted his hand and brought it up to his chest, holding it there.

"Hiccup, are you alright?" Stoick asked; hear his son's scream of pain. Fret was clearly seen on his face.

"A fire worm bit me!" Hiccup replied back, not much later he came out of the fissure with hammer in hand, the other hand clutched at his chest. Hiccup handed the hammer to Mulch who took it with great gratitude.

"Are you alright, son?" Stoick asked, kneeling down to his level. Grabbing his hand, he brought it away from his son's chest to examine it.

"Ooh, that's a nasty bite." Mulch commented.

"I'm so sorry, Hiccup. It's all my fault." Bucket blamed himself.

"It's not your fault, Bucket; you didn't put the fire worm there." Hiccup said through gritted teeth. Bucket still felt shameful but it did ease the guilt off of him. Hiccup's pointer and middle finger of his right hand sported two small scratches, their depths deep enough to think of hitting bone. To add to the pain, the fire worm burned Hiccup's hand, and burned the newly formed scratches.

Hiccup's hand was shaking due to the pain shooting up from the injured fingers. Seeing this, Stoick got back up and began to lead his son to their house.

"Mulch can you go get Gothi, I'm sure she has some herbs that'll patch this up." He said while looking back at Mulch. Mulch nodded and left to find their shaman, Bucket following.

* * *

At the house a half an hour later, Gothi was tending to Hiccup's wound while the teens all gathered around; Stoick also present.

Hiccup sat on the table, legs dangling over the edge. He held his right wrist with his left hand, his right hand on his lap. Touching the scratches would only result in pain, Hiccup made sure to steer clear of that. While Hiccup sat on the table, Gothi stood beside him preparing a formula for the burns.

Tuffnut whistled at the site of Hiccup's bite, a smile on his face.

"That is one good scar!" he said with glee.

"How'd you get it?" Ruffnut asked.

"A fire worm bit him, and don't you two be going around trying to find some!" Stoick commanded, knowing very well the twins would be looking for trouble.

"Are you alright?" Astrid asked; her and Fishlegs both being concerned for their friend.

"I'm fine; it's just a couple of scratches." Hiccup replied, doing his best to hide his flinches from the burning sensation.

"But dude, look at it; it looks all red and puffy." Tuffnut said while reaching over to touch it. Hiccup retracted his hand while Stoick smacked Tuffnut's away.

"It doesn't hurt too badly does it?" Astrid asked another.

"Well… OUCH!" Hiccup screamed when Gothi spread a thin layer of the formula onto his fingers before wrapping each finger up individually in a gaze like cloth.

"I take it that's a yes, very much." Fishlegs answered the obvious.

Suddenly, Snotlout sneezed twice before his face drooped from fatigue.

"Snotlout are you okay?" Stoick asked, the child looked like he was coming down with a cold.

"I think so, my head's all stuffy and I've got a head ache." Snotlout replied.

"When did that start?" Astrid asked.

"Not too long after we left Westpoint." He answered back.

"Westpoint?" Stoick asked not having any idea what that was.

"It's the name of our club house." Astrid informed.

"Speaking of which, Hiccup do we have enough wood for the post?" Fishlegs reminded.

"Wood; if you kids are looking for more, we're in limited supply right now and need it for the houses."

"Then, no posts…?" Fishlegs asked.

"It's alright, we can find something else." Hiccup suggested. Snotlout sneezes again. "Snotlout, are you sure you're fine? Maybe you should have Gothi check you out." Hiccup asked with a little concern.

"Sure, okay." Snotlout said groggily.

"Wow, Snotlout agreed with you Hiccup; there really must be something wrong with him." Astrid joked.

"It's nothing bad, I'm sure it's just a twenty-four-hour virus; no biggy. I can handle it." Snotlout retorted with blinded arrogance.

Hiccup knew better, he felt something was… off. Snotlout normally has a pretty good immune system, another thing he added to his back pack of cockiness. Whenever the others were sick, Snotlout would be the one completely healthy; he'd also rub it in everyone's face of how "invulnerable" he was. It annoyed Hiccup to no end, but now, he wished Snotlout wasn't sick.

_Something's wrong, something's terrible wrong…_

* * *

**To be continued…**

**Sorry for the extremely long wait everyone. Thunderstorms were everywhere! I hope this chapter was somewhat worth the long wait. Again, sorry**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

The sun was set just above the horizon as our young riders were busing themselves with their new way point. Hiccup was helping Astrid finish up the floor board, the two soon getting ready to start the walls. The twins were, once again, obsessed with the idea of a rope swing from such a height and continued in their knotting (before, they were interrupted by the long absence of Hiccup, due to the fire worm bite, and left to go check on him).

Meatlug flies down to meet the others with Fishlegs on her back, the later being equally as happy as the former.

Looking up at noticing his friend's arrival, "Fishlegs, there you are; I thought you might have slept in." Hiccup greeted with a friendly smile.

"Nah, I can never sleep in; my back would start aching from the lack of movement." Fishlegs replied, jumping off of Meatlug.

"Oh, I have that too sometimes; hate it when it happens." Astrid jumped in. Hiccup furrowed his eyebrows at the remaining absence of a certain someone.

"Hey, where's Snotlout." He asked to anybody who could answer.

"Still sick," Fishlegs replied.

"Oh please tell me he went to see Gothi." Astrid requested with much irritation.

"Yeah, and Gothi gave him medicine." Fishlegs informed.

"But he's still sick?" Hiccup asked, the gears in his head beginning to move with the information.

"Perhaps it'll take a while?" Fishlegs stated.

Tuffnut sneezes loudly, attracting the attention of his friends and ending their conversation.

"Oh no…" Astrid started.

"Not you too…" Hiccup finished.

"Actually both of us…" Ruffnut notified while raising her hand.

"Yeah, tell Snotlout to keep his sickness to himself." Tuffnut commented.

"We don't want it." Ruffnut added.

"When did this start?" Hiccup asked.

"Um…" Tuffnut took a couple seconds pondering on the answer, "I don't remember."

"You don't remember." Hiccup repeated with doubt.

"Why did you even ask _him_?" Ruffnut commented.

"Uh, good point." Replied Hiccup with a point of his finger.

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter, you two need to see Gothi right away; we don't need this spreading." Astrid declared.

"You should have told that to Snotlout." Tuffnut said, annoyed. The two dropped the rope and walked groggily over to their dragons.

"Come on belch,"

"Let's go Barf,"

The two sneezed at the same time causing their dragons to cringe a little before taking off.

Astrid and Hiccup watched as they left before Astrid spoke up.

"Man, I hope Gothi can help them." She turned her head to Hiccup when she didn't hear a reply. Finding Hiccup staring down in thought, "…Hiccup?"

"Huh, oh, yeah; I hope Gothi can take care of this." He answered, pulling away from his thoughts.

* * *

That supper in the Great Hall, only three teens sat at their table. Fishlegs sat directly across from Hiccup, Astrid sitting to the right of the later. Fishlegs began to fidget with his fingers, the silence in between the three starting to get to him.

"It's quite lonesome without Snotlout and the twins around." He said starting a conversation.

"I'm sure they'll get better soon." Astrid commented very well knowing the underlining meaning of Fishlegs' statement.

"I may just be like you said a twenty-four-hour virus." Though Hiccup had a feeling that wasn't the case, he wanted to make his friend feeling better. He could tell that they all were a little worried.

"Yeah okay, well, I'm tired…I'm going to go to bed." Fishlegs replied. He stood up and made his out of the Great Hall.

"You're tired? Fishlegs, it's practically seven o'clock." Astrid asked.

"Yeah, I had a long day…goodnight."

"Goodnight," both Hiccup and Astrid responded back. They looked at each other with worried faces. Hiccup looked down at Fishlegs' abandoned plate.

"He didn't even finish his food; Fishlegs always finishing his food." Hiccup said.

"I guess he wasn't as hungry as he normally is." Astrid inquired.

"I guess…" Hiccup let the words go as he watched Fishlegs leave, his mind wondering off again.

On the stairways of the Great Hall, Fishlegs placed a hand on his head, cringing before rubbing his temples.

"Stupid head ache." He said before groggily making his way to his house.

* * *

The next morning, Hiccup spent his early hours drawing Toothless. Sitting at his desk, he scribbled in the details with his feather pen. Once more he dabbed the tip into the newly traded ink well, taking a glance over at Toothless, who grinned and tapped his tail in joy, he smiled as he added the last bit of detail.

"Almost done bud, this may be my best one yet." Hiccup stated with a friendly grin. A couple more glances and jots and Hiccup was done. He held up the paper in front of him and smiled. Toothless came over as to examine the art work as well, nudging his rider's arm as he cooed. Hiccup giggled, petting Toothless on the head before hugging him.

"Hiccup…?" Hiccup heard his dad call. Lifting his head up and towards the steps, he journeyed away from his room and down to his father.

"Yeah," he asked as he made his way downstairs. Toothless followed him before taking a seat by the bottom step. Hiccup walked over to his dad at the table.

"I need you to help me with this." Stoick informed, on the table was three buckets, two filled with water and the third empty.

"What's—"

"A lot of the kids got terribly sick last night and Gothi needs some water. I've filled up these two; can you fill up that one and bring it over to the Great Hall?"

"Yeah of course,"

"Thanks, and be quick." Stoick said before rushing out of the house with both buckets in his hands. Hiccup frowned with worry, going over what his dad just said.

_More… I had a feeling it was bad, but I had wished I was wrong. _Hiccup thought to himself. Toothless behind him tilted his head in confusion. Hiccup grabbed the bucket with both hands before letting one drop. With his eyes closed, he sighed and took the bucket; the fresh water river being his destination.

* * *

"Here Gothi, I have some water." Stoick said as he entered the Great Hall. Gothi had to move her patients to the Great Hall due to the large growing numbers. By the hour, more and more kids were being brought in; kids, toddlers, infants, pre-teens, anyone who was under the age of eighteen seemed to be getting sick.

…And it was all the same case.

Stoick walked up to his friend, Gobber, who was helping Gothi with the masses.

"How are they doing?" he asked as he sat the buckets down by a table.

Gobber sighed, "Not good; they seem to be getting worse.

"What about the antidote?" Stoick asked, his question going to both Gothi and Gobber. Gobber turned around and watched Gothi draw out her answer.

"She says it's not working." Gobber replied.

Stoick sighs, "Odin help us."

* * *

**To be continued…**

**I don't really have an author's note**


	5. Chapter 5

**I start college in a couple of days now; I don't know when the next update will be, but hopefully you guys won't have to wait long—I'd say in about a week, but it really depends. I do plan on finishing this story and continue to make more; I really want to continue writing here on Fanfiction. I am looking forward to watching ****Dragons Defenders of Berk coming up here on September 10****! It's a Tuesday, so I think Cartoon Network moved it back to its original air day. We got less than 2 months left of waiting! Woohoo!**

**Warning, this chapter may be depressing**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

Hiccup jumped off of Toothless and onto the lush green grass. In his hand was an empty bucket to which he was going to fill with water. In front of him was a clear water spring flowing down from the mountain top, it's rapids at just the right speed. Holding the bucket with his left hand, Hiccup leapt onto a rock and then another. He knelt down on his current rock and brought the bucket's lip to the water's surface. A small hiss caught him off guard, gasping and immediately withdrawing the bucket back to him. His widened eyes saw a fire worm sitting on the rock right next to where he was trying to fill the bucket. His gasp captured Toothless' attention as the black dragon came over to his rider, peered around the boy and began to growl immensely at the little fire breather. Hiccup tried to nudge him away, but Toothless was evidently stronger than him.

"Toothless, it's okay, I got this." He said while finally getting his friend to back away some. Hiccup grabbed a fairly long stick and gently began to bump the fire worm off of the rock.

"Come on little fella, I need to use this stream." Hiccup said, gasping again from surprise when the fire worm caught itself on fire and torched the stick's tip before jumping off and disappearing into the forest across the stream. The stick began to flicker with light was the small fire grew downward toward Hiccup's hand. It died, however, when Hiccup doused it by putting it in the stream's water.

Now with the problem solved, Hiccup carelessly threw the stick behind him and dumped the bucket under to collect his water.

* * *

"Nothing's working? Are you sure, you tried _everything_?" Stoick asked once more with desperation of a different answer. Unfortunately, he didn't get such.

"Yes, Stoick; if we had a break through, I would have told you." Gobber replied, deeply sorry for the bad news. Gobber sighs, "Almost every child on Berk is sick with this virus." The doors suddenly opened, catching the twos' attention to the newest guest.

Hiccup came in, along with Toothless, with his water load, carrying the bucket with two hands as to not spill any water.

"Here Dad, I got some water." He said as he made his way up to his father and Gobber. Gobber took the bucket from his hands, also being careful not to drop anything, and set it down by the other two. Hiccup watched him for two seconds before bringing his eyes onto his friends who were laid out in a row on the floor along with the multitude of other children. They lay on comforters with little covers as their temperatures declared it so. Hiccup winced in sorrow at the sight of his friends under such dreadful conditions.

"Ar—are they going to be fine?" Hiccup asked, no attempt was made to hide his worry.

"We… don't know, son." Stoick answered hesitantly. Hiccup stepped forward to go to them, but was halted when his right arm got caught up in Stoick's hand.

"No!" Stoick said too quickly; "It's safer for you if you don't go near them." Though Stoick hated telling Hiccup he could visit his friends, he was too worried for his current safety; his health.

"What?" Hiccup replied, not believing what his dad just said.

"Look, I know you want to see them—" Stoick continued trying to reason with Hiccup.

"Dad, they're my friends!"

"It's very contagious—"

"I feel fine, I'm not sick!"

"Hiccup!" Stoick exclaimed out of frustration with his son's nonexistent cooperation. The door's of the Great Hall opened again, but this time more bad news filed in. Astrid walked in groggily before falling down onto the floor in a heap no more than four steps away from the doors.

"Astrid!" Hiccup called out as he immediately rushed over to her aid. His heart began to beat faster with every leap forward.

_No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no… _he thought as he ran towards her.

He slid down to her level, placing his hands on her arm, "Astrid, are you-?"

"Not…good," she breathed; her oxygen in little supply as if she ran a marathon. Toothless came trotting over to his rider and friend, completely confused on what was going on. Soon, the adults, mainly Stoick and Gobber, came rushing over. Gobber lifted her up to take her to Gothi while Stoick grabbed a hold of Hiccup and took him outside.

"Dad, NO!" he said as he tried to fight his father's grip. Stoick hated this moment for all it was worth.

Outside the doors, Hiccup pulled himself away from Stoick.

"Hiccup, you have to listen to me."

"You can't tell me I'm not allowed to see Astrid!" Hiccup said through held back tears.

"Hiccup, every child on Berk is sick with this… this virus! You are the only one that hasn't gotten sick!"

"So, what?! My life is of greater importance than theirs!?"

"To a father, YES!"

"What about their parents?!"

"Their parents are grieving for their children's' health, coming to me to see if a cure has been found, to which our efforts in finding one have failed! To see one child not sick, as healthy as anything amongst a population of infected, is a blessing, a sign that there is hope!" Stoick calmed himself down and now spoke in a softer voice. He knelt to Hiccup's level.

"I don't want to see you lying on one of those beds."

The doors opened thanks to Toothless, who came out with his ears down due to the yelling he overheard. He sat beside his rider, cooing at him to get his attention and cheer him up, but Hiccup seemed lost in his thoughts.

"I'm going to visit other tribes to see if they can help identify this sickness." Stoick spoke up. "I'll be back in a few days." He added as he walked down the steps to get Thornado. He stopped and turned around. "Hiccup…?" he asked.

"Hiccup turned towards him with a depressed look, but nodded. A silent question answered with a silent response.

Stoick turned once more to head off, leaving his standing at the doors beside his dragon. By Stoick's guess, he was crying and Toothless was probably there comforting him. He sighed as he jumped onto Thornado's back, settling himself in.

_I'm so sorry Hiccup…_ he thought before he and Thornado flew up and over the village.

* * *

**Don't worry about Hiccup, he'll cheer up soon. I hope I still have the characters in character; I wasn't entirely sure about this chapter. But, anyway, the chapters do get more uplifting as the story goes on. This was, I guess, the turning point. It's where everything becomes known about the situation and how bad it is.**

**So, who all thinks the cure has something to do with the fire worms?**

**Who all thinks it can't be that simple?**

**Thanks for the reviews and views and many more and I'll be writing to you soon!**


	6. Chapter 6

**College is going well for me; my schedule is absolutely amazing and my roommate is awesome. Because of my boredom at my apartment, I'm going to be able to update chapters a lot faster now. Next chapter will be posted after my next class, I'd say around 1:00-1:30pm.**

**Sorry for any typos and a quick heads up: this chapter is long—er!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

Hiccup sat in his room on the edge of the wooden floor by the stairs, his feet dangling carelessly over the living area. His arms were folded in, each hand cupping either elbow, while his eyes gazed downward past his feet.

He sighed and turned to look at Toothless to the left of him, "What am I gonna do?" Toothless gave a saddened gurgle, tilting his head slightly in response. "All of my friends, they're sick. I-I mean did ya see Astrid? She looked like she couldn't breathe." He continued; his voice soft and quiet. Absentmindedly, he rubbed his left arm with his right hand. "I don't want to see anybody like that…" he spun his head away, averting his eyes from his friend, "My dad doesn't want to see me like that."

Toothless dropped his head lower to the floor, his eyes still gazing with sorrow for his rider.

"I have to do _something_ Toothless. I can't just sit around and wait, we aren't getting anywhere." Toothless cooed, his eyes holding great understanding.

"I don't mean to go against my father's wishes…"

_He __**really**__ doesn't want to see me sick with this virus. _He thought while playing back the disagreement in his head like a tape recorder. All of a sudden, his face lit up as insight came to him.

"… But I'm not sick." Hiccup deduced. "Every other kid here on Berk is sick, everyone but **me**. Toothless, I should have experienced some type of symptom by now." Hiccup continued; Toothless perked his ears up as he listened to what Hiccup was saying.

"Maybe…"

_Just maybe…_

"…Maybe I'm immune!" Hiccup exclaimed, hope in his eyes as he glanced over at his dragon. "Toothless, there's got to be a reason why I'm immune." He stated, the gears in his head reeling back to yesterday. "We're gonna have'ta back track to recent events, and I know just where to start." Toothless tilted his head in question. "Come on," Hiccup said as he sat up and motioned for his friend to follow, "we gotta go find some fire worms."

* * *

Gothi finished her latest mixture, sighing in hope that it'll work. She gave the small bowl to Gobber who took it with care and carried it over to Snotlout. One sniff of it and the boy turned his head, pretending to gag in disgust. However, this was a wrong move on his part as the pretend gag almost caused him to upchuck what little contents he had left in his stomach.

"Uh huh, that's what you get for being a big baby." Gobber replied in his own worry-free persona.

After a few attempts on trying to get the stubborn Viking to drink, he finally got the mixture down his throat.

"Why do I have to be the guinea pig?" Snotlout whined.

"Why not? If it doesn't work, it doesn't work, but if it does than you're the first to be cured." Gobber replied, shaking off the question as if it held no importance.

As Gobber left, Tuffnut spoke up in a raspy voice.

"Some one's being a weakling!" he sang.

"I'm not a weakling!" Snotlout argued.

Astrid sighed as she unwillingly listened to the two half argue half complain.

_I hope Hiccup is having a better time than we are…_

* * *

"This is terrible! How come every time I don't need something I find it, and then when I **do** need something, it's lost to me?" Hiccup complained. His search for a fire worm has been everything but successful. He stopped in his tracks to calm down and re-adjust his search strategy. Currently, he was by the fresh water stream where he encountered a fire worm while trying to gather water. With his hands on his hips he scanned the forest floors for any small hand-sized lizards.

"Do you see any, Toothless?" He asked while swerving his head to his friend. Toothless scanned the environment as well, sniffing the ground like a hound dog. Suddenly, he smelled something and stiffened his body towards its' direction. Hiccup, noticing this, turned his attention to Toothless.

"Toothless, did you find something?" Said dragon turned his head towards his rider and gave a sneeze-like nod.

"Alright, good job bud. Let's go!"

* * *

The clouds rolled past the duo as they flew near to the speed of sound. Dipping down, the two soared closer to the tree tops, slowing their rate as their destination came up. Right over a cliff edge, at the bottom of its' steeps, lay a bed of fire worms hissing with glowing cinders. Toothless landed at the rim of the cliff, the two being able to see the nest perfectly.

"Wow Toothless, we flew all over the island and it wasn't even five miles away from the village." Hiccup harmlessly criticized. Toothless looked at him playfully, his intentions not at all to make his rider mad. Hiccup smiled, knowing full well what his dragon was trying to do. He loved flying, and loved it even more when he was present. Recent events have caused him to be sad greatly and Toothless was trying to cheer him up.

After petting the Night Fury's scaly head, Hiccup bent over the cliff and slid down the slope. He hoped to the bottom, landing with bent knees to better balance the force given. Toothless hoped off of the frame and glided down to his Hiccup, sniffing the small lizards as he walked closer to them. Growling, he bared his teeth and backed away from the nasty little buzzards; he remember quite well what one did to his friend. Hiccup grabbed two sticks, holding the one tight with his good hand and the other not quite as taut due to his injured fingers.

"Alright, I just need one." He said to himself as he concentrated on grabbing a single fire worm off of the pile. One in particular stood out, right on top and ripe for plucking. The two ends of the sticks began to make their way over, the sturdier being the first to nudge the fiery lizard into place. It hissed louder than the others causing Hiccup to withdraw. He didn't want it to go ablaze because when one catches fire, the rest catch fire.

"It's okay little guy, I'm not gonna hurt you. Just wanna see if I can—"A large black shadow loomed over head, covering Hiccup entirely as it soared pass. Hiccup looked up at the sky only to furrow his eyebrows in question.

"Stormfly?" he asked. Said Nadder landed just beyond the small fire worm nest across from the other two. She shook her spikes before making her way over. "Stormfly, what are you doing here?" Hiccup asked again, knowing very well she wouldn't just speak a response. The fire worm hissed again, a few more joining in this time. Startled, Stormfly jumped back a step prior to firing one of her white hot blasts. All of the fire worms scattered, hiding away from the intruders by rushing under the coverage of the forest. Hiccup immediately retreated from the sudden migration and backed up behind Toothless who brought his wing up to shield his rider.

As the last fire worm disappeared into the flora, Toothless lowered his wings and Hiccup stepped forward.

"Great, now I have to go find them again." He said with a slanted frown. Stormfly lowered her head, giving Hiccup an apologetic smile.

Hiccup sighed, "Its okay Stormfly, you didn't know." He walked over to her and scratched her sweet spot behind the jaw. Even though she thoroughly enjoyed the groom, she was there for a different reason. Bumping her head against Hiccup, she nudged him away, accidently causing him to stagger, so she could take off. Flapping her wings, she ascended off the ground and hovered just shy of the tree tops. Roaring in communication, she jolted her head towards the village and back to Hiccup below.

"Oh, you want me to follow." Hiccup stated. "Come on bud," he said as he hopped onto Toothless and the two followed Stormfly back to the village.

* * *

The doors of the Great Hall swung open, their space in between intruded with a small frame. As Hiccup walked in, Gobber smiled at his presence before grabbing a clear glass jar.

"Hiccup, there ya are. I wanted to show you something." He said, approaching the young Viking.

"What is it?"

"Look!" Gobber held up the jar. A single fire worm lay upon a pile of grasses and a twig.

"A fire worm, wow, you had better progress than I did." He said sarcastically while jealous of Gobber's luck.

"We only got him because we found 'em lying in the street."

This captured Hiccup's full attention, "What do you mean?"

"Look at 'em Hiccup," Hiccup looked closer, his eyes squinting to focus better.

The fire worm was lying on its belly, its eyes half open and its limps completely hobble. The only movement seen from it was its' stomach rapidly rising and falling from its breaths.

"Its…sick…" he concluded.

"Yeah, and this is the one that bit you." Gobber added. Realization hit him harder than Astrid would when she punches him in the arm. He was going to say something, but words just wouldn't form.

"It appears you have the virus Hiccup—"

"—but I'm immune, already figured that out."

"Oh, well than this was a waste of time."

"No, no, it wasn't. This means the fire worms aren't the cure."

"Is that good news or bad?" Gobber asked.

"Both, but now I'm back to square one." Hiccup answered.

* * *

That night, Hiccup spent the early hours at Westpoint. Though their tree house wasn't anywhere near completion, the flooring _was_ done and sturdy enough for a dragon to walk on.

Hiccup sat on the edge of their planned balcony, his legs curled up to the warm hug of his arms. Below him was thin air, below that, the waves from the sea crashing against the rocks. His eyes stayed fixed on the horizon; the moon's light gave the scene a mystic glow as it slowly moved in its orbit. Toothless snored quietly as he slept beside his rider.

_What could it be? What is causing this virus?_

Hiccup was so deep in his thoughts he didn't hear the twig snap behind him.

Toohtless' eyes shot open as his ears perked straight up. He lifted his head and looked right at the pitch black woods. He ears went flat against his skull when he sniffed the air; his teeth visible as his eyes narrowed. This evidently caught Hiccup's attention.

"Toothless, what's wrong?" he asked after untangling his legs from his arms and twisting around to look. Toothless shot a plasma blast which completely disintegrated an arrow that would have struck Hiccup. Pouncing forward, the Night Fury captured the owner of the arrow with his fore claws.

Hiccup jumped off of the platform and ran over to Toothless' side. He was stopped dead in his tracks when he saw what, or who, was within his dragon's clutches.

"A Berserker?"

* * *

**Chapter 7 will be up soon, so keep an eye out!**

**Thanks for the reviews, views, favorites, followers, and those who just plain read this stuff.**


	7. Chapter 7

**SURPRISE! The 7****th**** chapter gets posted on the same day as the 6****th****! It's all thanks to my absolute boredom at my apartment. There is nothing to do besides sleep, eat and watch TV. So I work on my stories at my desk; write them down and type them out at my college's library.**

**Thanks again for every one of my readers! Again, sorry for any typos**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

The man struggled against Toothless' grip. Grunting from his attempts, he stared daggers at the black dragon.

"Stupid dragon, I had a clear shot!" The Berserker shouted. When Hiccup came into view he growled, but stopped his thrashing.

"What is a Berserker doing on Berk?!" Hiccup demanded to know.

"You might have chased away the others, but your dumb dragons forgot about us!" The man replied.

Hiccup gasped quietly, "The thirteen soldiers. The dragons must have accidently left them at the cove."

The Berserker began to chuckle out of amusement before dropping that demeanor and growling out, "If it wasn't for your _stupid_ dragon, you'd be in **my** clutches."

Hiccup's eyes widened, but not from what the man said. "Are you the one responsible?" he commanded in anger.

"Responsible for what?"

"The virus! Every kid on Berk is sick because of it!"

"Every kid?" the man repeated; "Well it's a shame you aren't, you would have been an easy target; not that you aren't already…"

Hiccup growled in annoyance while Toothless dug his claws deeper causing the man to cringe.

"Answer the question!"

"You don't intimidate me, kid."

"I'm not the one you should be intimidated by!"

On cue, a growl erupted from deep within Toothless' throat, once more digging his claws into the man's skin. The Berserker hissed in pain and resumed his struggles.

"I have no idea what you're talking about! I don't know anything about this so called virus except from what you told me!" The man yelled in anger, but his accusation was truthful. Hiccup's face softened; closing his eyes, he sighed in defeat.

_Back to square one, __**again**__…_

"Hey!" the Berserker's scream woke Hiccup from his thoughts, "Aren't you going to tell this beast to let me go or what?!"

Hiccup smiled mischievously, "Sure, but first I have to ask you a question." The man raised an eyebrow. "Have you ever been carried off by a Night Fury before?"

* * *

The Berserker soldier screamed for all he was worth as he hung upside down by his foot which was held firmly in one of Toothless' fore paws. The three flew through the night air, Toothless going exceptionally fast to treat their "guest".

"Well, there's a first time for everything." Hiccup commented; he and Toothless sharing a smile.

* * *

Thornado opened his large mouth, letting out a roar before landing near the Haddock household. Stoick jumped off, sighing as his mission proved to be unsuccessful. Gobber walked up to his friend, bounding slightly due to his prosthetic.

"I trust you've found out something useful." He requested.

Stoick sighed, "Nothing at all."

"Nothing? No clue, no hint, not even a whisper of some sort—" Stoick interrupted him,

"I've visited many tribes; they have nothing to offer except their wishes." Gobber's eyes drifted downward at what was said by his friend.

"We'll figure something out, Stoick."

"How long do we even have?" the chief asked.

"Uh, don't really know, but I'm sure with more of Hiccup's help—"

"**More**?! You let him—**GOBBER**, I don't want him near them!" Stoick proclaimed threw fright.

"Don't worry Stoick, he can't get sick, he's immune to the disease." Gobber informed, his posture not changing.

"Immune?" Stoick was surprised to see this, but more importantly, he was grateful.

"Yeah, you know, immune; it means—"

"I know what it means, what I'm asking is **how**?"

"We don't know for sure yet. We were able to cross fire worms off the list though."

"Fire worms?"

"Hiccup got bit by one around the same time as when the others were getting sick. But when we found that one lying in the street, it was as sick as the kids." Gobber explained.

"Where's Hiccup now?" Stoick asked, still concerned for his son's safety. Gobber looked up at the sky before replying,

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Stoick turned to look in the direction Gobber was. His eye brows slanted inward at what he saw. Gobber took a second glance.

"Oh boy,"

"Hiccup…?"

Toothless descended towards them, dropping his cargo before landing on him to keep the human from escaping.

Stoick brought out his sword, the on Hiccup made him for Father's Day **(from my one-shot called ****_Gift of a Son_****)**, and aimed its tip at the Berserker. Gobber was right behind him, twisting his prosthetic hook to secure it in place.

"What is a _Berserker_ doing here?" The chief demanded in a threatening whisper.

"I found him in the woods—"

"Correction, **I **found **you**." The Berserker interrupted Hiccup.

"There's twelve others left to find." Hiccup finished.

"How are they here?" Stoick asked once more. His son opened his mouth to reply, but the Berserker chimed in again.

"Your boy here forgot about us when his precious dragons left us at this so called cove."

"Hahaha, that's a good sport for the afternoon, hunting for Berserkers." Gobber announced his idea. He approached the prisoner, grabbed and lifted him up before shoving him forward to lead him off to the prison center.

"Your boy might be a challenge with those dragons, but he's a perfect target without them. My men will get him, just you wait!" The Berserker taunted gleefully.

"Harm my son and you'll find yourself to be a perfect dummy for target practice!" Stoick threatened back, pointing his sword at the guy.

"And if ya don't shut that mouth of yours, ya won't be able to use it again!" Gobber added.

"Dad…?" Hiccup's voice brought Stoick out of his anger. "I need to see my friends; it's the only way to find a cure." Hiccup stated, still sitting upon Toothless. Stoick sighed, sheathing his blade; he looked up at his son and nodded.

"Thanks," Hiccup said softly with a smile.

As the two left for the Great Hall, Stoick turned to watch the Berserker disappear along with his friend. He narrowed his eyes before leaving to follow his son and Toothless.

* * *

"You're immune?" Astrid asked in a hoarse voice. Hiccup nodded before his eyes drifted down.

"Yeah, but we don't know why yet." He looked up at his friends. They all laid together in a row of five, Astrid being the closest to Hiccup. Hiccup's left hand was cupped around Astrid's right, his grip strong while hers was limp.

"I promise to find out whatever caused this and fix it." He added.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Hiccup. It's not your fault you're immune." Astrid replied. Hiccup glanced down at the floor again. He looked up again, scanning the multitude of children that lay with his friends.

"But I'm the only one. There has to be a reason…"

"You'll find it, I have faith in you." Astrid stated with a weak smile.

"You know what I could go for right now; snow berries." Tuffnut randomly chimed in.

"If we could keep them down, sure." Ruffnut added.

Hiccup's face lit up and he stood. "Snow berries!"

"Yeah, I know, delicious…" Tuffnut began to water at the mouth.

"No, the snow berries could be the cure!" Hiccup corrected him.

"How so?" Astrid asked.

"My memory is still a little hazy, but when Dagur released that smoke gas on me, it made me queasy and my muscles weak. I remember my dad having a conversation about snow berries then I remember eating them. The snow berries cancelled out the gas' effects." Hiccup explained.

"So…" Snotlout asked groggily.

"So, perhaps the snow berries could work with you guys."

"But it's not the same, we didn't get gassed." Fishlegs inquired.

"But your symptoms are the same as mine was. It's our only lead, so we have to take it." Hiccup reasoned with them. With no objections, Hiccup knew what he needed.

"I'll be back, soon, I promise." With that he left, the doors closing their visual on their leader and friend.

* * *

**Alright, I'm so proud of myself! Two updates in one day! Woohoo!**

**Thanks again for all your support every one! Next chapter should be updating in a few days.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks again for all of the reviews, views, favorites, followers, readers, etc.! I already have my next story idea and plan to update it as soon as this one is complete. I believe we have only four more chapters left.**

**My next story is currently called ****_Hostage_****, but that name may change. It's still in the "processing stage", but undoubtedly it'll be posted.**

**ATTENTION****: This is when all of the questions get answered**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

As soon as Toothless landed in the grass, Hiccup jumped off and headed straight for a nearby bush. Plunging head first, he hid his entire body under its cover; poking his head out to see his surroundings. Toothless followed his example, but with a lesser understanding for why. He stuffed his head into the bush, but the rest of his body just stood outside of it. Poking his head out the other end as well, Toothless perked his ears and scanned the environment with big wide eyes.

"Okay bud, we need to be sure to look for any trolls and, more importantly, Berserkers." Hiccup stated. The woods were extremely dark during midnight, but with the moon bright in the sky, it offered them some vision. The coast was clear as the only sound they heard was the soft rattling of the leaves above them along with the clatter of crickets.

Hiccup stepped out of the bush, calmly making his way over to a small patch of snow berry bushes. He twirled his satchel from behind him to the front, opened its flap, and knelt down to gather some berries. Each pick was placed into the satchel, accompanied by another soon after.

Toothless hopped out of the bush and shook himself free of any stray twigs or leaves. He trotted over to his rider's side before examining the snow berries. His eyes moved back and forth between Hiccup and the fruit; when it seemed as if Hiccup wasn't looking, Toothless slowly moved his tongue an inch a second towards the snow berries.

"No Toothless!" Hiccup exclaimed, surprising the Night Fury and making him retract his tongue. "You can't eat those; you know what it'll do." Hiccup explained; Toothless let out a stubborn huff.

Hiccup picked a few more bunches before closing the flap and standing up. "That should be enough. If I have to, I'll come back for more." He said as he dusted his hands off. "Come on, bud."

Within the bushes from a near distance, two Berserker scouts lay in wait watching Hiccup. One had his arrow cocked while the other just crouched beside him.

"I have a perfect shot, let me take it." The archer scout said as one eye was closed while the other fixated on his target. Within his eyes' scope, he angled the arrow straight at Hiccup's chest, following him with every movement.

"No, boss has another plan; we'll get him then." The man forcefully lowered his ally's bow from its position while continuing, "And besides, we're not supposed to kill him." The archer took the arrow off the bow and placed it back into his quiver.

"If you ask me, that boy deserves to die from all the humiliation he put us through." The archer judged. The other rolled his eyes,

"If we bring back a dead body, what use will it be to Dagur. If we present him with Hiccup, fully alive and helpless under our control, we'll rise in the rankings from mere soldiers to elite personal mercenaries. Dagur will assign us the most important killings."

"Oooh, I do like the sound of that."

"Exactly,"

Toothless began to sniff the ground, his nose picking up something familiar. Hiccup tried to tap him to go, but Toothless wasn't budging.

"Come on Toothless, we can't waste any time." With a final tug, Hiccup got Toothless to obey as the two set off towards the village.

* * *

"Here, eat this," Hiccup said as he fed Astrid one snow berry. He gave one to Snotlout next, then the twins, and finally Fishlegs. He continued down the line with the other kids before his satchel became empty.

"I remember this stuff, it's those red snowy things right?" Tuffnut inquired with a weak, gruff voice.

"Betcha I can keep this down." Ruffnut waged weakly.

"Betcha **I **can keep it down." Tuffnut replied, accepting the wager. Both ate and swallowed their berries.

"I won!" they said in unison, but ended up coughing a little from the sudden strain on their voices.

Hiccup returned to his spot next to Astrid; even though his friends seemed better, their conditions continued to deteriorate. Astrid began to shiver, her whole body quaking with chills. Hiccup covered her up a little; laying his hand on her forehead, he cringed slightly before drawing back from her hot skin.

"Please, please let these work." Hiccup whispered to himself. Standing up, he looked at his friends once more before turning to leave and go to bed.

* * *

The next day, Hiccup was first to check on his friends and peers. None were awake, but all had decrease in body temperature. Gothi began to check on each one while Hiccup, Gobber and Stoick stood off in discussion.

"What did you feed them again?" Gobber asked.

"Snow berries," Hiccup answered.

"They seemed to have worked… somewhat." Stoick commented.

"It's a first step, and I only gave them one. Perhaps if we feed more…" Gothi terminated that thought of Hiccup's as she shook her head and wrote in a nearby pile of sand.

"She says it's not the cure, but an ingredient." Gobber translated.

"We're close, but we still don't know why their sick or what caused it." Stoick added.

"This reminds me of the time when the dragons were sick and we had to find a Scauldron to get some venom." Gobber stated. Hiccup's face lit up.

"Wait, the dragons…" Hiccup began.

"What about them?" Stoick asked, not quite getting were his son was going.

"They got sick because of a flower, maybe it's similar with them." Stoick and Gobber just looked at each other. "I'll be right back!"

Hiccup came back carrying Fishlegs' botany book, flipping through each page until something caught his eye. He frowned as he read the text.

"What is it Hiccup." Stoick asked.

"This tree, the text mentions a… Banshee…" Confusion was evident on all of their faces. "It says the Loki tree has been known through lore that is roots hold the cure to a Banshee's venom." He read.

"A Banshee?!" Stoick raised in disbelief.

"Banshee's don't have venom… do they?" Gobber questioned.

"Yes they do," Hiccup began to fit the pieces together. "When it… fed on me, I couldn't move, my limbs were weak and I could barely talk let alone stay awake. That's what's happening with them." Hiccup exclaimed, pointing to all of the kids. He continued, "The Loki tree root is the cure for a Banshee's venom as snow berries are the cure for whatever it was in Dagur's gas bomb. Put them together…" Hiccup paused, his eyes wide with guilt from realization. "It's me… it's my fault they're sick."

"Hiccup—"Stoick got interrupted.

"Dagur's gas bomb must have somehow mixed with the Banshee venom that's still in me and created this freak virus! I'm immune because I'm also the source! Dad, it's my fault, they're dying because of **_me_**!"

Gobber and Stoick both were amazed at what they were hearing. Gobber looked at Hiccup with sorrow as Stoick approached him to try and calm him down.

"Hiccup, it's not your fault, you didn't purposely do this… all that's happened; you didn't do the things you did because you wanted to harm your friends or any other child."

"But I'm the cause of their harm." Hiccup choked out as his voice began to suffer from his oncoming tears.

"And the cure; we wouldn't have gotten here if it wasn't for you." Gobber added trying to help him. Both men were now cupping either of Hiccup's shoulders. Hiccup found a new strength as he glanced down at the book in his hands.

"I'm going to get that root." He stated firmly in a serious tone. Gobber and Stoick shared a quick look.

"The Loki tree only exists on one island." Gobber informed.

"Where?"

"Outcast Island…" Stoick answered.

* * *

**Do you guys remember the season finale, ****_We Are Family part 2_****? The fake Night Fury was made from a burned Loki tree and that's how the group knew to find Hiccup on Outcast Island. Well, I figured it'd be kind of cool to warp the story into some facts from the episodes.**

**Thanks again for all of your support! And… welcome Alvin**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

Hiccup was surprised; out of all the places the Loki tree had to be, Outcast Island was one of the—perhaps thee—worst. He looked down before narrowing his eyes and clenching his fists.

"I'm still going; Alvin's not getting in my way." He said solemnly as he turned to leave. His father stopped him with a hand to his shoulder.

"You are **not** going to Outcast Island." Stoick stated firmly. Hiccup turned around.

"Dad—"

"Not by yourself you're not." Stoick finished. Hiccup's anger was released at what he heard. "I'm coming with you; we'll go together."

"Really?" Hiccup asked with some doubtful.

"Yep, we need that root for the cure, let's go get." Hiccup smiled at his dad's rare complete agreement on a dangerous mission.

"So what's gonna be your desired transportation? Risk detection by flying or go in covertly with a boat?" Gobber sensibly questioned.

"These are the Outcasts, anything that's out of the ordinary puts them on high alert. The only way to get in by boat without being handed off as threats is if we had Trader Johann." Hiccup contemplated.

"Trader Johann isn't even on our seas currently and we can't wait for him." Stoick joined in. "The only other way I see is by dragon."

"Then we're just gonna hav'ta risk it." Hiccup succumbed to the inevitable outcome.

"Right, we'll leave immediately after the sun sets. The dark will help cover us, but it won't conceal our presence. The Outcasts will surely realize our unannounced visitation almost as soon as we land, so we get in, get the root, and get out." Stoick devised the plan. Hiccup agreed fully, he didn't want to waste any time with Alvin not when so much was at stake. As soon as darkness would fall, they would leave and once they came back, things would get better.

* * *

A single Berserker scout stood by a tall standing willow tree, using its hanging leaves to obscure himself from anyone's view. The willow tree planted itself right next to a cliff side that housed a waterfall; its waters running the whole way from the mountain top, over the cliff and down to the ocean.

The Berserker was equipped with a bow; seemingly all thirteen of them had one for efficient hunting and ranged attacks. The bow was fastened to his back, his quiver not missing any arrows. He watched as the Night Fury and Thunderdrum left the island, heading to who knows where. It wasn't until his view of them became obscured thanks to distance that he looked up into the sky and saw his shift was nearly over. Nightfall would be on them very soon and his duty was to scout until sun set. He turned around and started to head back, combing his way through the willow's leaves. He picked up his pace once he remembered the important meeting the boss had planned this night. He had devised a trap that would gain them a glorious welcome back to Dagur's lands and a few levels up in ranking. Would it work? Only time would tell.

* * *

Stoick and Hiccup were in a rush as well as they flew at fast speeds to make it to Outcast Island just after nightfall, giving them enough time to get the root and come home before morning.

The oceans never looked more enormous to Hiccup until now. He wasn't always in a rush and if he was, he was confident is his success. This was different though, he still had confident, but the stakes were higher. His friends needed him to get this cure; his village needed him and his father to save their tribe. He couldn't fail, and he wasn't going to.

"By the looks of some passing rocks I'd say we've reached the outskirts of Outcast shores." Stoick's announcement brought Hiccup out of his thoughts—he seemed to be thinking a lot lately—and take notice of his surroundings. The sharp jagged boulders jutting out of the water was a clear sign they were nearing Outcast Island. It sort of represented them in a way, rough edges relating to their harsh methods, its protrusion relating to their obsessive way of conquering other tribal lands, and the fact there was so many related to the actual numbers the Outcasts had.

"We need to stay low; weave through those rocks to decrease our discovery." Even if they were doomed to be discovered it doesn't hurt to try. As ordered, Hiccup and Toothless dove down, expertly lacing through the rocks with his father and Thornado.

"We can land over there," Hiccup pointed to a spot on the beach that was overseen by a huge rock face. Toothless flapped his wings, twisting his body sideways before planting his feet on the sand. Thornado landed, crawling a ways before stopping and turning his head to await his riders depart. Both riders jumped off of their dragons and looked both left and right, Hiccup even going as far as to look up at the rock face, just in case.

"No sign of any Oustcasts, I don't know if that's good or bad though." He informed.

"Right now that's good, let's keep moving." Stoick began to head eastward, Hiccup walking right beside him and the dragons following close behind, especially Toothless. The rock face began to dip down into a gully, the four followed it—more wary of their surroundings—until the gully leveled out with some of the upper layers of rock plates.

_That's another thing this place relates to the Outcasts, it's unleveled and dangerously unstable._ Hiccup mentally noted as he walked with even steps across the plates. His father stopped, causing him to as well, and turned around.

"Hiccup, can you remember where Alvin kept you locked up last time we were here?" Stoick asked.

"Um, yeah, but I thought we were looking for a tree." Hiccup was confused at where his dad was going with this.

"The Loki tree is known to dwell where there is intense heat, it thrives off of it. Outcast Island is also a volcano…" **[Not entirely sure is that's correct, so don't quote me on it]**

Hiccup eyes grew as he realized where they needed to go. "Wait, you mean we literally have to journey to the core of a volcano. What; is this tree part plant, part daredevil?"

"We don't have to go to the core, but be expecting some lava." Stoick informed; Hiccup breathed out unsteadily,

"Why do I get the feeling **I'll** be the one that has to skip over the lava?" Hiccup asked in a whisper to Toothless. Toothless just looked at him with a cute and divided attention.

* * *

An Outcast lacky ran through the corridors, running as fast as his stubby legs could carry him. As soon as he reached his destination he was bent over leaning on his knees and taking deep breathes to get back his oxygen. Alvin, who was sitting on his throne, looked at the minion as an annoyance and was about ready to brush him off.

"Alvin…I…have…ne…news…" the man tried to speak.

"What is it, can't you see I'm busy." Alvin turned his attention to what he was doing. "Now, back to the matter at hand; Savage, I said I wanted chicken! Not fish!"

"But sir, we don't have chicken." Savage replied.

"Are ye calling me a liar, we just got some from Trader Johann not too long ago."

"Oh, that chicken; right, sorry for my—"

"—Incompetence? Just get me my supper, I'm starving!"

"Sir…?" the Outcast tried again, this time his breathe was back.

"What is it?!" Alvin yelled in irritation.

"I have news."

"Well by all means, due tell."

"I've just spotted some intruders on our beach."

"Well what are you waiting for, get some bows and take them down." Alvin commanded.

"But sir, its Hiccup." This captured Alvin's immediate attention.

"Hiccup?"

"Yes sir, Hiccup and Stoick as well as their dragons." Alvin began to laugh, starting as a chuckle before moving into a full blow sinister cackle.

Alvin stood up with his arms raised, "Two birds with one stone! I never thought I'd get this opportunity again!" He settled his laughter before continuing. "I'll kill Stoick then steal Hiccup. Berk will succumb to my desires from my mere presence! With their leader gone and their heir under my control, Berk will be mine! And why stop there, that filthy Berkian Island was just a blockade in my domination of the seas. Do you know how much I could conquer with Hiccup's help?!"

"Uh…?" The messenger was speechless, mainly because he didn't want to say something that'd get him killed.

"More than you could ever imagine." Alvin whispered sinisterly.

"Here Alvin, I got your chicken." Savage said as he entered the room with a plate of delicious chicken.

"Forget the chicken!" Alvin threw his hand up and knocked the plate out of Savage's hands and into his face. "I've got work to do."

Savage tried to wipe off some of the grease, "Work, what work?" he asked, slightly angered from the slap in the face with a chicken leg and completely lost at what he missed.

"…To conquer a dragon trainer of course." Alvin replied with a ominous smile.

* * *

**I just love Alvin. Not only is he an awesome villain, but he's an amusing character to right.**

**Anyway, thanks for the support guys, I'm glad you're enjoying my stories! And sorry again for any typos, my sincere apologies.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, so I watched the trailer for Defenders of Berk and...**

**OH MY GOODNESS, I'M FREAKING OUT! Dagur's face when Hiccup was... well, no spoilers for those who didn't see it. BUT seriously, I got butterflies like crazy and want to scream! However I wont because it is night and my apartment room has a major echoing problem. I'm going to enjoy this season very, very much. Watching more of Dagur will help me capture his character better. That, and I love Dagur just as much as I love Alvin and will thoroughly enjoy watching him deal with Hiccup and his dragon training. Now if you don't excuse me, I'm going to watch the trailer again, and again, and again.**

**I saw when the trailer was uploaded and it was uploaded Tuesday! Oh man, I'm so slow! That and this laptop sometimes has connection problems. It's also old, doesn't even have Microsoft Office! I'm typing on some program called Open Office Writer. Eh, as long as it works it's fine with me.**

**Enough of my talking, enjoy the chapter!**

**Oh yeah, ****this chapter is suspenseful!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

The moon was reaching its way further up into the sky, the stars behind it spreading themselves across the sky. Some dark clouds rolled by and covered them, more soon joining in. Outcast Island was known to have terrible weather, but Hiccup always wondered how it was only this Island.

The two and their dragons approached the metal door that blocked them from the inside. Stoick narrowed his eyes before lifting his right hand over to his sword. Unsheathing it, he aimed its point forward.

"There's going to be a lot of Outcasts in there, so we need to get to the tree and get out." Stoick stated, ready for battle. Hiccup looked a little worried, not because of a good chance something would go wrong, but because of the fact they'd have to fight their way through. He really didn't want to see anyone get their head chopped off or impaled. He wasn't a bloody-battle loving viking.

Stoick noticed Hiccup's uneasiness and sighed before relaxing a little.

"I'll only block their attacks and knock them out." Hiccup relaxed now too and smiled a bit. Turning around he addressed himself before the dragons.

"Alright you two, we need you to stay here and guard." Toothless and Thornado growled in answer.

Hiccup came up to Toothless, "Take care of yourself, bud; we'll be back as soon as we get the root." he said while hugging his Night Fury. "Nothing will happen like last time." he promised before saying good bye and meeting back up with his dad.

"Ready?" the chief said, putting his hand on the metal lever.

"Ready." Hiccup answered.

Stoick opened the door and the two went in.

* * *

Snotlout coughed harshly, his throat painfully suffering from it. Gobber raised him up to help settle the cough, then placing a cold washcloth on his forehead to cool the child down. He checked Snotlout's breaths and cringed as they were beginning to sound uneven. Spitelout, who was beside him and looked as scared as ever, quickly turned to Gobber,

"How long will it take for Stoick and Hiccup to find that root?"

"I'm not sure." Gobber really wished he could give the man a better answer. All he could do now was wait, and it seemed waiting wasn't helping at all as the kid's conditions worsened.

* * *

The corridors were surprisingly empty as the two Berkians traveled through. Stoick was slightly in front, Hiccup behind him and to his right, his back step matching up with Hiccup's front. Hiccup looked around, not liking the lack of Outcasts at all.

"Where are all the Outcasts?" Stoick asked.

"You just read my thoughts. I think Alvin may know we're here." Hiccup inquired.

"Expected, but why not send any lackeys to deal with us?"

Hiccup turned around and glanced down the corridor behind them. His eyes widened as he heard distant footsteps. Stoick turned around too, "Because he's trying to trap us!" Hiccup shouted as the two started running. Not really knowing which way to go, they just followed the heat, if it was warmer a certain direction they'd follow it. They slid to a stop as three bows came into their sights. Their viking owners smiled half rotten smiles as their fingers were nearly ready to pull the trigger. A warm gust of air hit Hiccup's face and he turned his attention down the corridor to the right of him.

"This way!" he said, tugging his dad's arm. He dashed down it just before the Outcasts fired their arrows. Stoick waved his sword, all three hitting its blade and bouncing away from their target. He too turned down the corridor and ran after his son.

Hiccup saw an opening and dashed towards it; right as he rounded the corner, a large Outcast grabbed his arm and threw him against the wall. He fell down onto the rock floor, back down. Slowing getting up from the daze he was in, he wasn't allowed to move any further as the Outcast grabbed a hold of his neck and brought him up. Hiccup choked in his oxygen as he was lifted off of the ground and suspended in the air and in the vile traitor's strong grasp. The Outcast smirked victoriously as he carried his catch down the corridor and into a room with a stone table. Hiccup kicked the man in the stomach, then tried kicking his face. He struggled to get more oxygen from his grip, fruitlessly trying to pull the hand off his neck. He was slammed down upon the stone table and held their by the Outcast's beefy arm. Hiccup managed to plant a kick to his face with his prosthetic, causing the viking to become dazed, but it wasn't enough for him to let up on his hold. Shaking his head clear of any dizziness, the Outcast smiled at Hiccup; smirking for some payback. Hiccup's left, prosthetic leg was grabbed, the Outcast gripping tightly on the area just below the knee. He smiled as he slowly began to bend it forward, and the wrong way. Hiccup's eyes widened immensely as he realized what the man was gonna do... he was going to break his knee clean off its socket. Hiccup screamed as he began to feel pain, his kneecap pressured to shatter. Suddenly, the Outcast was hit hard in the side of the head, the knock staggering him back and away from Hiccup. Stoick stood in front of his son, starring daggers at the Outcast. As soon as the man was free from dizziness again, he rushed towards Stoick. Stoick dodged a fist and planted his sword's handle into the man's side, landed a fist to the side of his head and then kicked his face. The enemy fell to the ground, out of order for any conscious activities.

Hiccup was clutching his leg, bending it a little to see if anything hurt. Thankfully, nothing was broken or strained, just shaky.

"Are you alright?" Stoick asked, grabbing Hiccup and gently pulling him up and off of the table. Hiccup checked his leg once more, sighing in relief as it was still fine.

"Yeah, just a little shook up. His body was shivering all over, the boy looked like he took a midnight dip in the ocean. Stoick took hold of him and lead him out of the room.

"We need to hurry, before anymore-" The three Outcasts they ran into earlier had reloaded their bows and once again aimed it at them. Five other soldiers stood with them, armed with war axes and swords. The Outcast behind him left in the room came to the doorway, fully awake and ready for yet another payback.

Hiccup reached into his jacket and pulled out a small sphere.

"Hiccup, what's-?"

"Hold your breath!" Hiccup shouted before slamming the bomb down in front of them. The bomb let out a huge gust of smoke, engulfing the corridor with sightless gray; coughing a chocking soon after. Stoick and Hiccup covered their mouth and nose all the while running forward and knocking over men in their way. Leaving the cloud of smoke, they didn't look back as they kept running towards the warmer air.

* * *

**To be continued...**

**Well, it looks like there might be an extra chapter. YAY!**

**Thanks again for all of the support! Next chapter will be posted in a few days.  
**


	11. Chapter 11

**A.N.**

**My next story's title has changed from **_**Hostage**_** to **_**Escape**_**. It'll be posted as soon as the last chapter of **_**Gumshoe**_** is posted.**

**This chapter was an inspiration from a dream I had months ago. It was an awesome dream...**

**Apologies again for any grammar errors**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

**Gumshoe**

**Chapter 11**

* * *

The corridor seemed to stretch ever onward as the two kept their fast pace. Hiccup, knowing very well this time, made sure to stay close to his father and not run too far ahead. He kept his ears open for his dad's footsteps behind him and slowed a bit when they sounded farther then before. The footsteps got closer this time as Stoick caught up to Hiccup's side.

"Where did you get a smoke bomb?" He asked, more than just curious. They kept running all the while.

"Gobber; after you told him about Dagur's gas bomb he went and made one of his own. Gave it to me before we left." Hiccup explained. Stoick raised an eye brow,

"I-I-It's not exactly like Dagur's, it doesn't have any of the toxic fumes so it's safe." Hiccup finished.

"Ah, well that's good. How many did he give you?"

"Uh, just that one, sooo..."

"We better be more careful." Stoick and Hiccup stopped; Hiccup looked down and away, shamed that he had been foolish enough to run into trouble already. Stoick's face softened,

"I'm not blaming you," he stuck his hands on his son's shoulders, "We just need to be on a look out, Alvin is a tricky one." Stoick's eyes unconsciously drifted down at Hiccup's redden neck before narrowing,

_And when I find Alvin, maybe I can shove my sword down his throat!_

"Let's keep moving," Stoick continued as he let Hiccup go first.

The heat they were following soon brought them to a large aperture, it's bottom's filled with lava. Stoick and Hiccup walked up to the edge of the road, staring straight they saw what they were here for; a Loki tree sat on the other side of the pool of lava, it's roots jutting out of the hard rock as some seemed to climb the wall behind it. The tree was huge, its base allowing at least ten fully grown vikings to hug it from arm to arm. Surrounding the tree was a large and deep pool of lava, its surface scattered with many broken pieces of the rock.

"I think we found it." Hiccup stated the obvious. Stoick took a glance at the 'stepping stones' so to speak. He walked over to the edge and placed his right foot on one, giving it quite a bit of weight. The small platform gave in and began to sink slowly into the lava. Stoick lifted his foot, and the platform came back up.

"Those will never be able to hold me, do you think you can get over there?" He asked his son. Hiccup furrowed his eyebrows in determination and jumped onto one of the stepping stones. He balanced himself, keeping his arms out. The platform sank slightly under his weight, but it wasn't enough to submerge it. It was extremely hot though, and Hiccup was beginning to feel lightheaded from the heat. Stoick backed away as he too was getting excessive heat.

"Hiccup you okay?" He asked worried for his son's safety. He was standing over lava.

"Yeah," Hiccup replied, though he told himself otherwise. He remembered this feeling before, it was constantly there when he'd overwork himself after the Banshee attack.

_It's the Banshee's venom,_ he remembered; taking in deep breathes each time he skipped over to the next platform.

His foot landed on solid ground, standing just underneath the Loki tree. He smiled and sighed in relief, wiping some sweat off his forehead. He turned around and raised his head victoriously.

"Made it!"

"Hurry up and get a root!" Stoick shouted back, reminding him of their limited time. Hiccup nodded and ventured over to the base of the tree, pulling out his knife from his jacket. Bending down he picked a small piece and began to cut away at it.

"Come on, come on, tear off already." Hiccup struggled with the root, his blade not doing its job fast enough. He decided to bend the root, hopefully weaken it's structure so it'd be easier to cut. With the sound of a crack, the root broke in half, but some of it was still attached. Finishing the job with his knife, he tore off the root and placed his knife back in his jacket. Turning around, he held up the root in his right hand.

Smiling, he shouted, "I've got a root!"

Stoick smiled as well, "Great, now let's get out of here!" Hiccup dropped his arm back down to his side before taking a step forward towards the platforms. Stoick's attention was caught from the sound of bola slicing through the air.

Suddenly, Hiccup was entangled with a rope, the bola wrapping itself around his arms and squeezing them to his side. The sudden action caused him to fall over, sliding a bit towards the lava. He screamed as the surprise attack caught him off guard; looking up, he followed the sound of laughter.

"So nice of you two to drop by! If ya had informed me earlier ye'd be paying a visit, I would have had more time to plan the _special_ arrangements." Alvin spoke from an upper platform within the aperture.

"Alvin," Stoick whispered darkly to himself. Four of Alvin's archers aimed their arrows and shot at him. Stepping back and blocking them, Stoick ran back and disappeared through the corridor.

"Coward!" Alvin shouted to Stoick's back, "Go after him!" he ordered his men before whistling with his fingers. A Whispering Death exploded out of the rock wall below them and slithered through the air up to Alvin's level.

Hiccup's eyes widened immensely, "What-?"

"Be a good dragon and go fetch me the catch." Alvin ordered, the Whispering Death diving down to do just that. Alvin kept laughing as he watched Hiccup get scooped up and brought back to him. Holding its cargo by a stray string from the bola, Hiccup hung upside down, squirming and trying to get loose. He was gently lowered to Alvin's eye level,

"Surprise, surprise, Hiccup. I'd ask why you're here, but why should I complain?" The Whispering Death dropped Hiccup down at Alvin's feet. "I do love it when you squirm."

"You have a-"

"**Trained** dragon? As a matter of fact, I do; all thanks to you me boy." Savage waved the Whispering Death away, its assistance not needed anymore.

"_How_? I didn't show you anything!" Alvin began laughing,

"You didn't need to." He said, kneeling down on one knee and plucking the root from Hiccup's tied hand. He held the root up between the two, "Now what could you possibly want with one of our Loki tree roots?"

"That's none of your business!"

"Stoick wouldn't personally come with you to Outcast Island to get a root if it wasn't important! Now tell me, what's going on back at Berk?" Alvin threatened, getting closer to Hiccup's face.

"He said its none of your business." A voice announced from behind. Alvin's eyes grew as he quickly got up and turned around. By this time, Stoick had already taken out the two guards, punched Savage in the face and then swung his sword at Alvin's head. It hit his helmet, knocking him sideways and to the floor. A forceful punch in the face ended Alvin's conscious state, for now.

"Are you alright?" Stoick asked, changing his demeanor significantly. He swiped his sword across the string, Hiccup closing his eyes from the strike in fear of getting hit, and cut it clean through. Opening his eyes, Hiccup wiggled the bola off of him and his father helped him up.

"Yeah, I'm fine; no injuries."

"Good, now let's go, hurry." Hiccup grabbed the root from Alvin's hand and followed his dad out and down the corridor. Alvin moaned from where he lay, shaking his head and placing a hand on his forehead.

"Stoick, I should have killed you the first time." He mumbled as he steadily got to his.

* * *

**To be continued...**


	12. Chapter 12

**A.N.**

**Okay so I left you guys off at a completely cruel spot to stop at in the story. Mwahahaha! I'm eviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiil… not really.**

**Okay, besides that, there are going to be added chapters due to my failure at predicting how many there will be. That's good though, I think nothing less of myself; this failure brought forth FRUIT! That fruit being more chapters! Alright, enough with me talking…er writing (I'm strangely ****over****energetic today, don't know why).**

**Sorry for any typos**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

**Gumshoe**

**Chapter 12**

* * *

The pitter patter of feet echoed slightly down the halls as the two Berkians ran onward. They heard voices coming from behind them, no doubt the majority of it being Alvin, as well as voices coming from ahead. Shadows danced on the walls, mimicking their owner's movement before they showed up. Around the corner came seven armed Outcast lackeys; three of which had crossbows. They took their aim at Stoick.

"I'm getting real tired of this." Stoick said as he ran up to them and swung his sword. The sword cut straight through the crossbow. The Outcast that was holding said weapon gasped and immediately backed away, running behind his armed friends. The rest got together and charged Stoick, the last two archers getting ready to attack if their friends didn't do the job. Stoick was more than welcoming them, and gladly battled with the four Outcasts.

Hiccup turned around at the sound of yet another group of Outcasts behind him. Only two shadows came up on the walls, but Hiccup was sure Alvin would catch up soon enough. They needed to move and that was final. An idea popped into his head and he instantly moved into action.

As soon as the two Outcasts rounded the corner, they brought up their crossbows and took aim. They brought them back down once they saw Stoick busy with the other group and Hiccup on the ground unconscious and ripe for the taking. Looking at each other, they nodded and quickly, but still alert, approached the vulnerable body of Hiccup. One of them knelt down to grab his arm, but when they did, Hiccup opened his eyes and kicked his prosthetic foot into the man's face. The Outcast screamed from the pain stumbled back; the other jolting from surprise and almost losing his grip on his crossbow. This gave Hiccup enough time to get up and nab the other crossbow. Taking aim, the two were at a standoff, neither making a move nor taking their eyes off the other.

The Outcast smiled, "You don't even know how to shoot that thing, especially aim it properly."

"I don't need to." Hiccup said smirking as well. Stoick came up behind the Outcast and kicked his foot into the side of the man's leg before finishing him off with a punch to the face. Hiccup dropped the crossbow, cringing from displeasure before letting it drop to the floor in front of him.

Stoick raised his eyebrow in confusion to Hiccup's action toward the crossbow, but dismissed it as they needed to get moving.

* * *

Toothless lay on the ground, ears back and eyelids half open. He and Thornado just sat there waiting for their riders to burst through the metal door.

Bored as ever, Toothless gave a small sigh; flinging up some dirt that was near his mouth. A shadow passing overhead caught his attention before he quickly lifted his head and narrowed his eyes toward the sky. A wild Monstrous Nightmare soared overhead; spotting the two dragons, it roared and dived down. Toothless smiled his toothless smile and opened his mouth to let out a plasma blast. Before he could let it go, however, Thornado beat him to the battle as the Thunderdrum roared loudly straight at the Nightmare. The echoing bursts hit the Nightmare and caused him to staggering in his flight. Knowing very well not to mess with an angry Thunderdrum, the Monstrous Nightmare turned his course away from the two dragons.

Toothless' ears sand back down to his head as his eyelids dropped back down. He looked at Thornado, annoyed as ever that he stole his fight. Giving up on some action, the Night Fury just laid back down in the dirt.

* * *

Hiccup and Stoick came out into a large aperture, their speed slowing down from exhaustion. Hiccup suddenly collapsed to the ground, his vision going black for a few seconds before he came back to reality.

"Hiccup?!" Stoick called as he ran back. "Are you alright, what happened?"

"I think I blacked out." Hiccup said, not really remembering his father's question, but just randomly saying so. He had to hold himself still as he got up too fast and started to feel lightheaded again, his vision dancing with little black spots.

"It's the Banshee's venom." Stoick stated, remembering the text read to him when Hiccup looked through Fishlegs' botany book.

"But, it went away awhile ago, why is it coming back now?" Hiccup asked, mainly himself. Memories of the lava and the heat making him nauseous came back to him.

_The extreme heat must have made it active again, and all of this running around doesn't help._

"Can you walk?" Stoick asked, ready to lift Hiccup from his knees to his feet.

"Yeah, I just need a minute." Hiccup's minute was about to run short as the ground started to quake. The loose rocks in the dirt began to vibrate and dance as the rumbling got louder and closer.

"That can't be good." Stoick stated.

The ground gave way as a Whispering Death emerged from underneath. Hissing and rotating its teeth within its mouth, it eyed Stoick and Hiccup as it ascended up and out of the hole.

"It's Alvin's dragon!" Hiccup yelled to his father. Stoick narrowed his eyes,

"If Alvin thinks he's gonna keep us here, he's got another thing coming." Stoick threatened, ready to take on the beast.

"Dad, wait, no," Hiccup said, getting up and lowering his dad's sword. Stoick looked at him as if he was crazy.

"Hiccup, what are you-" Stoick didn't finish as he watched Hiccup slowly walk closer to the Whispering Death.

"It's alright, I'm not gonna harm you, never even tried." he said as he gradually approached the dragon with his hand out.

"Can you even train an already trained dragon?" Stoick whispered in question.

"I'm not sure, but it seems to be working." Hiccup got even closer, lifting his hand to lay it on the boulder class dragon's head. It didn't move away, but it did continue to hiss and rotate its teeth.

"Dad, put your sword away." Stoick hesitated for a split second before complying and sheathing his sword. The Whispering Death stopped its aggressive behavior, but flinched back and hissed slightly when Hiccup attempted to place his hand on its snout. Hiccup let his head drift down as he looked away and closed his eyes, hand still stretched outward.

The world was stopped for Stoick as he watched his son completely look away from the dragon, _Alvin's_ dragon. He couldn't move as he watched and waited for something to happen.

The Whispering Death looked the hand, tempted to touch it. There was something different about this one than his current owner. He would never disrespect of his owner's trust, but this boy's sign of trust outstretched any the dragon has ever witnessed. As it made up its mind, it moved its head closer to touch the hand. Closing its eyes, its body fully relaxed, it moved in and placed its head on Hiccup's palm. As soon as the two surfaces reached, a scream echoed throughout the aperture.

"What are you doing with **my** dragon?!" Alvin yelled, scaring both Hiccup and the Whispering Death away from each other. The dragon roared loudly and dove back into the ground in front of Hiccup. Alvin growled, clenching his hands into fist and shaking them to hold back his anger.

"Errrr, GET THEM!" he ordered fiercely, his men not taking a second to hesitate.

"Into the hole!" Hiccup shouted, him and his father jumping down and disappearing from view. The Outcasts quickly followed their lead and following the two down underground.

"What was he doing with me dragon?!" Alvin repeated his previous question.

"It appeared he was trying to train it, sir." Savage answered, shrinking back from Alvin's sudden look of frustration at him.

"He can't train an already trained dragon! Can he?" Alvin looked angry, frustrated, but mostly dumbstruck.

"Apparently he can?" Savage wasn't sure if that response was going to get him a bump on his head. Alvin's eyes widened, a thought coming to him before he continued to what he was doing.

"Don't just stand there, Savage, go after them!"

"Okay, um, but quick question." Alvin looked like he was going to kill the man any second, but Savage took it as a yes.

"Why don't you just chase after them with the Whispering Death?"

"I'll give you three good reason why I won't; one, it hunts from underground which is tightly spaced; two, there's nowhere to sit on the thing without getting impaled; and three," Alvin responded with a lower voice as if embarrassed to almost say it, "I don't know how to ride a dragon yet, Mildew hasn't gotten me that far." He raised his voice once more, "Now get down there and bring me that boy!" Alvin tossed Savage into the hole, the man screaming as he descended down and hit hard onto the dirt ground.

Alvin looked at the continued corridor on the other side. Smiling, he abandoned the hole and ran towards the exit.

* * *

**To be continued...**

**Again I leave you guys at a daring and suspenseful moment, a.k.a A cliffhanger. I hope there was enough action in this chapter as well; a few more and this story is over. ***sad face*****

**Thanks again for all of the support and comments!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A.N.**

**Good news for you guys, I am absolutely bored and there is nothing else for me to do but write. Quicker updates!**

**I wasn't really paying attention to how many more chapters there was going to be, I was just updating. Well, I hate to tell you guys because I know it'll upset you, but this is the last chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

**Gumshoe**

**Chapter 13**

* * *

"Up here, I see sunlight." Hiccup announced as he squinted his eyes from the ray of light that shone down through the hole. The Whispering Death had apparently either accidently or on purpose helped them out of a sticky situation.

Letting his son go first, Stoick allowed Hiccup to place his foot on his hand as he lifted him up and out of the hole. Hiccup took a few seconds to scan his surrounds for any Outcasts; seeing as it was clear, he gave a hand to his father and, miraculously, helped pull him up and out of the hole as well.

The bare, open rock land was bound to get them spotted in no time; with quick haste, they dashed over to the nearest cover—a large rock face.

"We need the dragons, pronto. Hiccup can you call Toothless?" Stoick asked, breathing rather heavily from the run. Hiccup was breathing heavy too, nodding his head yes. He waited until he could catch his breath again; turning around, he moved to a more reasonable slope before climbing up the rock face and standing at the tip of its rim. Cupping his hands at his mouth, he roared his Night Fury call across the sky. The call echoed through the valley, bouncing off of rocks before hitting the ears of a certain Night Fury. Toothless' ears immediately perked straight up, head lifting off the ground and eyes widening. He called back with a toothless roar before dashing off to follow the call back to the owner. Thornado followed him, taking to the skies while Toothless bounced over the ground.

Hiccup heard the reply, and smiled, calling again to enhance Toothless' sense of direction on where to go. The call was received perfectly, Toothless redirecting his path slightly to the left.

"There!" Stoick pointed to the sky where he saw Thornado, no doubt was Toothless below him on the ground.

Thornado spotted his rider ahead and roared a message to Toothless below. Flying ahead, he landed near Stoick and purred as he placed his hand on his snout.

"Toothless!" Hiccup exclaimed happily, seeing his dragon coming up to them. The two connected rather harshly as Toothless rammed into Hiccup, giving him a large hug. Hiccup giggled as he was licked by his friend, patting his head and hugging him.

Through a scope, Alvin aimed the arrow up directly with Hiccup's head. One eye open, one eye closed; two hands firm, two legs still. He contemplated hard on his options; killing Hiccup would give him an advantage to winning, but he might still need the boy with problems ahead. However, Mildew could solve that little problem, but the old fart does only know so much. So many things are at stake if Hiccup lives, but if he died, that'd be all taken care of. Just one flick of a finger, one second of time, it'd all be ended.

Alvin narrowed his eyes, releasing his grip on the crossbow and removing his head away from the scoped position. He let his arms drift down to his side, the crossbow following with them.

"This may be the end, but it's also the beginning." Alvin said to himself, smiling crookedly as thought of what was to come. "You'll die by my sword through your heart, not an arrow through the skull." He said, directing the little note towards Hiccup. He watched as they boarded their dragons and flew off towards their pitiful Berk.

"Soon, Hiccup… soon."

* * *

The Loki tree root was added to the mixture for the cure then quickly given to the children for fear of them being too late. Gobber and Stoick finished giving the medicine to the rest of the children, signs of it working already started to emerge.

"Okay, I think that's all of them." Gobber stated.

"Not all," Stoick was thinking of one other.

At Westpoint, Hiccup sat at the edge of the porch, one knee brought up to his chin and the other hanging down over the rim. Hiccup allowed his left leg to move back and forth as it dangled over the ocean waves, his mind elsewhere as his chin lay on his knee. The moon was disappearing over the tree tops, its light beginning to fade behind the leaves.

Toothless lay beside his rider, and just like before slept peacefully with a slight snore. His back rose and fell with each breath. Though he was as black as the night itself, Hiccup knew where his head was as he absentmindedly lifted his right hand and started to pet the Night Fury's head. Toothless didn't stir from his sleep at the touch, but he was awake enough to know what Hiccup was doing. His head popped up when he heard flapping before laying it back down when he realized it was Thornado. Hiccup heard it too, but didn't move his stare away from the horizon.

Stoick hopped off of his dragon and walked calmly over to the big tree. Though he could barely see through the darkness, the stars behind Hiccup's figure outlined him enough for him to know his son was there. He watched his step as he carefully felt for the steps leading up onto the platform of the tree house. Once found he walked up and made his way across the floor board.

"You guys got far on this tree house." Stoick said, beginning the conversation. Hiccup didn't reply though. "Looks nice, so far, I mean." Stoick continued; still no reply. He carried on towards Hiccup, accidently stepping on Toothless' tail in the process; Toothless letting out an annoyed groan.

"Sorry Toothless couldn't see you; you're as black as the night." Toothless went back to sleep, accepting the apology. Stoick sat down next to his son.

"Here," He held out the small cup so his son could take it. Hiccup finally moved his eyes away from the horizon and looked at the cup.

"What's this?" he asked.

"It's the cure. It may not have had any effect on you, but that doesn't mean you don't have it in your system. Here, drink up." Hiccup took the cup and sniffed it, instantly flinching back from disgust. He stuck out his tongue and closed his eyes, moving the cup as far away from his nose as possible.

Stoick chuckled, "It doesn't smell as bad as it tastes."

"Thanks, that helps a lot." Hiccup, though he felt like puking, swallowed the liquid. His father was right about it tasting worse; Hiccup had to keep his mouth closed so he didn't spit out the revolting substance. Once he finally got it down, his body shivered from head to toe and he gagged once more.

"You were the easiest of them all. It took forever to get the others to swallow that stuff. Some we had to resort to needles."

"Let me guess, Snotlout?" Hiccup presumed, handing the cup back to his father who took it.

"Yep," Hiccup chuckled at the thought.

Though Stoick couldn't see his face, he knew something was bothering Hiccup; he could just tell.

"Alright, what is it? What's bothering ya?" he asked, placing the cup down beside him.

Hiccup sighed, "Alvin knows how to train dragons now."

"We also know that we can retrain them." Stoick added. Hiccup looked at him,

"But how did Alvin figure it out? I didn't show him anything when he kidnapped me. Now he can train dragons! Do you know how many dragons they've managed to capture? They even have a Changewing as well as a Scauldron! They might even have a dragon we don't even know exists yet!"

"I think you're thinking too hard on this."

"Am I?" Hiccup asked, his eyes moving back to the horizon.

"Hiccup, no matter how many dragons Alvin manages to train, no one can compare to _you_. **You** were the first to ride a dragon; **you** are the most experienced out of all of us; **you** are the one who befriended a Night Fury. Alvin is not _you_ and he's definitely not going to get anywhere near as good as _you_."

"Thanks Dad,"

"Hey, that's what I'm here for; besides feeding and caring for you." Hiccup chuckled with him on the small joke. "Come on; let's get back to the village. It's cold this night." Hiccup stood up, Toothless getting up as well, and walked with his father back towards Thornado. Jumping onto Toothless' back, he took off into the sky with his dad.

Though a new threat emerged from an old, Hiccup knew now that just like the old, the problem would be resolved. It will be hard and possibly seem hopeless at times, but Hiccup was going to stay strong; strong for his father, strong for his friends, strong for his village, but especially strong for Toothless.

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**The End!**

**I might be able to post the first chapter of ****_Escape_**** up later on today, but I'm not sure. If anything else, it'll be posted tomorrow. Thank you all so much for your continuous reading and support. I thank all of you who reviewed, who favorite, who followed, and those who just plain read, or did all of the above.**

**I'll see you soon in my next story, until then, bye bye!**


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